Dear VH1… I’m sorry.

A couple of things before I get to VH1…

Mary Ruth came home Tuesday with strep throat. So I had to take her to the after-hours doctor to get her some meds. Let me take a minute here to say thank you to everyone at that office who noticed that her name is Mary Ruth and called her that (and not just Mary). It let’s me know that it is possible for people in the medical field (who don’t know her) to call her by her correct name. Now if I could just get Walgreens on board with this…

Anyway, I had to keep her home yesterday. The Wife had a work thing that she had to go to, so Mom agreed to come over and watch Daniel (since we were trying to keep MR away from him). The Wife took Susie to Day Care on her way to work, leaving me out in the den with Daniel until Mom could get to our house (MR was back in our room). Mom got to our house a little after 9:00am and by about 9:10am she was on her coffee break. She took her lunch break at about 11:30am and left around 12:30pm. Between her coffee break and her lunch break, she had a number of little breaks where she would direct me in washing clothes and cleaning up the kitchen. All in all, I’m sure it was a nice little break for her to come up and “help” me. Haha, just kidding (about some of that). She was a big help in taking care of Daniel (though she did try to get me to change him… my response, “Nope, you’ve got two boys so I know you know how to change him”) and I had a good time talking to her about her daddy (who died before I was born). I glad she was able to come up and help me (because if she had not come up, I’m sure MR would have given Daniel strep).

If you missed seeing Stephen Colbert sing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, you need to see it now.

Ok VH1, I have to admit… this list thing isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Really, the problem is the whole “Hard” rock thing. That one word kind of throws a wrench into things. Still, I think I owe it to my readers to come up with a better list than what VH1 gave them. So, here’s what my Top 20 would look like:

20 Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John (not on the VH1 list)

19 Talk Dirty To Me - Poison (this made the VH1 list at 40)

18 18 And Life - Skid Row (this made the VH1 list at 60)

17 Seventeen - Winger (this made the VH1 list at 87)

16 Livin’ On A Prayer - Bon Jovi (this did not make the VH1 list)

15 Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard (this did not make the VH1 list)

14 Shelter Me - Cinderella (this did not make the VH1 list)

13 Cum On Feel The Noize - Quiet Riot (this made the VH1 list at 41)

12 Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin (this made the VH1 list at 3)

11 Highway To Hell - AC/DC (this did not make the VH1 list)

10 Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin (this did not make the VH1 list)

09 Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions (this made the VH1 list at 18)

08 Rock and Roll All Nite - Kiss (this made the VH1 list at 16)

07 Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) - Pink Floyd (this did not make the VH1 list)

06 Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N’ Roses (this made the VH1 list at 1)

05 Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin (this did not make the VH1 list)

04 Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (this made the VH1 list at 26)

03 Enter Sandman - Metallica (this made the VH1 list at 5)

02 Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who (this made the VH1 list at 6)

01 Back In Black - AC/DC (this made the VH1 list at 2)

*For what it’s worth, I almost put Walk This Way by Aerosmith on the list at #7 (it was on the VH1 list at #8), but I didn’t. The reason I didn’t is that I like the version with Run DMC better… In fact, I don’t really like the original version at all. I do like how they sing it now (even without Run DMC)… so I’m conflicted on if it should be on the list or not. If I went with the original version, it wouldn’t make my Top 20… but it would be in the Top 50.

I am going to call a conference of all the staff here at I’m just sayin… and we are going to come up with The Greatest (number to be determined) Songs of All-Time (excluding Religious songs [too hard to compare to other genres], Hard Core Hip-Hop songs [a personal choice], and various genres that I don’t listen to [my list, my songs]). Even with these exclusions, I’m sure my hard working group of employees will be able to come up with a “list to end all lists”. I’m not sure when we will release this list (as I’m not sure when all of our schedules will allow us the time needed to complete this task) but I hope we have it done sooner rather than later. So stay in touch.



Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Staff Sergeant Hammett L. Bowen, Jr. (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War in Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

S/Sgt. Bowen distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant during combat operations in Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam. S/Sgt. Bowen's platoon was advancing on a reconnaissance mission into enemy controlled terrain when it came under the withering crossfire of small arms and grenades from an enemy ambush force. S/Sgt. Bowen placed heavy suppressive fire on the enemy positions and ordered his men to fall back. As the platoon was moving back, an enemy grenade was thrown amid S/Sgt. Bowen and 3 of his men. Sensing the danger to his comrades, S/Sgt. Bowen shouted a warning to his men and hurled himself on the grenade, absorbing the explosion with his body while saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. S/Sgt. Bowen's extraordinary courage and concern for his men at the cost of his life served as an inspiration to his comrades and are in the highest traditions of the military service and the U.S. Army.

Sergeant Alonzo Bowman (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on August 30, 1881 at Cibicu Creek, Arizona. His citation reads:

Conspicuous and extraordinary bravery in attacking mutinous scouts.

Quartermaster Edward R. Bowman (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on January 13-15, 1865 on board the USS Ticonderoga. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Ticonderoga during attacks on Fort Fisher 13 to 15 January 1865. Despite severe wounds sustained during the action Bowman displayed outstanding courage in the performance of duty as his ship maintained its well-placed fire upon the batteries on shore, and thereafter, as she materially lessened the power of guns on the mound which had been turned upon our assaulting columns. During this battle the flag was planted on one of the strongest fortifications possessed by the rebels.